James series – “The Litmus Test for life”James 5:1-6

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

The first example of Godless greedy is hoarding treasures, the second is: 

• Defrauding Measures – Vs 4

We have all had people try to defraud us out of money. Whether it’s in person, over the phone or by email. There are those who try to make a profit from swindling people. James says that how you treat people is tied to your view of treasure. When our hearts are tied to treasure we tend to trash people instead of treasuring them. Instead of caring for people we con them. Today we have a country that constantly puts profit ahead of people and calls it business, but it’s not God says that its trashing people by taking advantage of them. How we treat people is not based on a political party it’s based on a biblical principle. It’s not something that republicans or democrats dreamed up but something Christ calls us to. Because fraud doesn’t just eat away at an economy it hurts the hearts of people. Identity theft, credit card fraud cost US consumers $16 billion in 2016. Here’s a clue, no matter how authentic the email sounds, you didn’t win the lottery in Nigeria. Some foreign government isn’t holding the estate of some unknown royal relative of yours. You didn’t win a free vacation in the Bahamas. The IRS is not going to call you to ask you to pay your taxes with a debit card or wire transfer over the phone. Anyone on craigslist that sends you a check for more than the item you have listed and asks you to return the over pay just sent you a fake check. Fraud is serious business and it can be a big business as we discovered with money manager Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest fraud ever by an individual. The FBI says that fraud costs people over $40 billion annually. So how does God the Father feel about fraud? He detests it because it ruins our relationships. In Leviticus 19:35-36, God reminded the children of Israel who He was and what He had done. That He had redeemed them for relationship not for defrauding riches as he instructed them to, “not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume.³⁶ Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate.^[a] I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” In those days, they would balance metal weights against grain to determine how much it cost. If the seller wanted to defraud the buyer, he would lighten his weights or unbalance his scales. But according to Deuteronomy 25:13-16, God sees defrauding as detestible, ¹³ “You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise, ¹⁴ and you must use full and honest measures. ¹⁵ Yes, always use honest weights and measures, so that you may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God.” God’s intolerance of fraud is reiterated three times in Proverbs, including Proverbs 11:1: “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” Scripture makes it clear that God hates fraud, but why does He hate it so much? Because of all it entails. Fraud includes lying, stealing, taking advantage of people’s good intentions and trashing their trust. What about you, have you ever defrauded anyone? Have you ever misrepresented something in order to sell it, presenting it as better than it was? Have you ever cheated or lied or misrepresented yourself for your own personal profit? Pretending to be disabled to get the assistance or a parking place? What about with God, have you ever defrauded the Deity by withholding your tithe of time and treasure? Malachi 3:8 says, “⁸ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.” Many of us try to cheat Christ by giving Him our leftovers instead of our lives. Do you treasure people or possessions? How many of us spend more time cultivating riches than they do our relationships? Share about the shoe ministry – Company that provides all the shoes for free why because they have a proper perspective, they are not here to make money but to share the love of the Lord. They use their product and profits as a way to connect the church to the community so people can see Christ. What would happen if we would make people not profit the priority? 

James series – “The Litmus Test for life”

James 5:1-6

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

James says that the first example of greedy pride is:

1. Hoarding Treasures – Vs 1-3:

James starts this part of the passage in the same way that he started the last lesson, back in verse 13. He says, “Look here” he’s basically saying, “Listen up because this is important.” Now, here’s what’s really odd about this particular passage. He says, “I want you rich people to listen up.” Remember way back when we started our study in James, we learned that James was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. As a pastor, he was a public speaker and while speaking styles have changed over the years, certain key principles haven’t. One of those being that for a speaker to be effective, he has to know his audience. Do you remember who James’ audience was? Well, the whole reason he was writing this letter was because a large part of his congregation was no longer attending his church because they had been scattered by persecution. It started with the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, and Saul’s persecution of the church in Acts 8. As a result, the Saints scattered. But James was still their pastor and as their pastor, he cared enough to write this letter to them to caution them about their attitude toward assets. But did he all of a sudden forget who his audience was here? Why in the world would he start this passage by saying, “Listen here you rich people?” How would you respond if I had started my message this morning saying, “All of you rich people need to listen to me this morning.” Most of you would automatically tuned me out, thinking “He’s not talking to me.” After all, what is the classic definition of a rich person? Somebody who’s got more than me. Many people who we would see as being rich don’t see themselves that way. Why? Because somebody else they know always has more. Our tendency is to see this passage in relationship to riches in our community or even our country, but rarely do we based our wealth by the worlds standards. The worldwide median per-capita household income is just under $3000 where the US federal poverty level for one person is just over $12000. Our poverty level is three times higher than the world. The person in the bottom 5% of the American income distribution is still richer than 68 percent of the world’s inhabitants. Compared to the world most Americans are wealthy. So why would James address these poor scattered Christians as rich? These people who had lost their homes, jobs and savings as a result of persecution? To make a powerful point, that no matter how much or how little you have, you can still harbor greedy pride. As a matter of fact, I know poor people who obsess more about money than well off people. But to these people that we would consider dirt poor, James says, “Your wealth is rotting away. Your gold and silver are corroded.” Why? Because even though they didn’t have much, they greedily hoarded what little they did have. When it comes to money it’s has more to do with attitude than the amount. Verse 3 says they heaped their treasure together for the last days. Does this mean that we shouldn’t save for the future? No. What it means is that we shouldn’t selfishly pile up our money. There is a difference between saving and hoarding and it has to do with what we are saving for? What are you investing for? Are you saving and investing as a way to bring honor and glory to God? Or are you saving and investing as a way to bring comfort and ease to yourself? Are your purposes self-centered or Savior centered? Are they based on a life of ease and comfort or serving Christ? Are you saving to serve self or the Savior? That’s the difference. James is getting at the motive behind the money. Because if we are not careful we will put our trust in earthly treasures instead of eternal truth.  Saving and investing in order to feed your feel good, so you can live a comfortably complacent life is hoarding not honoring. Instead of using wealth to live a worthy life and witness for Jesus we live a wasted life. In John Piper’s book, “Don’t Waste Your Life” he recalls a story he read in Reader’s Digest about: “A couple took early retirement from their jobs when they were in their 50’s. They moved to Florida, so they could cruise on their 30-foot boat, play softball and collect shells.” Then he goes on to say, “Picture that couple standing before Christ at the great Day of Judgment, saying, ‘Look, Lord—See my shells.’” What a tragedy. What a wasted life. Or as James puts it, “Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you, this corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.” How do you plan on honoring God with the money you’ve saved? Or are you just heaping together corroded, rotten, moth eaten rusty riches? When we do we make life about self instead of serving. The issue has to do with what you are banking on and where you are banking, are you investing in earthly treasures or eternal truths?